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NBA draft lottery

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M Dogg™:
The reason for Kobe not having any hype was the timing. At the time, the only players that came out of high school to play NBA ball were Moses Malone, Shawn Kemp and Kevin Garnett. All big men. So when the 1996 draft came, a 6'6" guard was not exactly a player people figured was ready for the NBA. No one can replace tall, but a guard needs to be skilled, and high school players were not ready yet. So when the Charlette Hornets were offered Vlade Divoc, a proven big man, for Kobe Bryant, a player that was not proven at all, the Hornets jumped on it, for Bryants development could be wasted, and he could never mature. Jerry West saw different, and wanted him, and save money since the main reason for the trade was to free up cap room to sign Shaq, and Vlade was an expensive back up.

Fast forward to now, a Kobe and T-Mac later, and high school guards turn out to be pretty exciting. Add to that the highest selling NBA jerseys are T-Mac and Kobe, amoung other exciting guards. LeBron James is a highly athletic, and extremely talented player. He is the player that all teams want, simply because he can excite a crowd, and draw big attentance numbers. And after Kobe and T-Mac, two player that had hype, but the small player risk. (funny, small at 6'6") Sam Bowe was picked over Jordan because the Blazers thought a big man would be more of a sure player, can't coach size theory. Same with the Hornets trading Kobe for Vlade, because size is a safer bet. Now though, GMs do not want to be known as the GM that past on T-Mac, or Kobe, and instead be known as the GM that picked up the next greatest player. It's a risk, but the rewards have proven to outweight the safe theory and picking up Carmelo Anthony, who may be as good, or better, but LeBron has just too much talent to pass up on. And in the end, we will know for sure what the right choice is, but the hype LeBron is getting, would not have happened if not for the Kobes and T-Macs allowing guards to be seen as legit high school NBA players first.

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